


Rainbows

by GintokisGirl95



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27692245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GintokisGirl95/pseuds/GintokisGirl95
Summary: Arthur found himself admiring Tilly more than he had the rainbows.
Relationships: Tilly Jackson/Arthur Morgan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	Rainbows

He thought it would be easy to ignore, the smiles she gave him, her inviting him to just talk with her, the soothing kindness that radiated from her when she handed him a bowl of stew or a fresh steaming cup of coffee, or when she left his clothes washed and neatly folded at the foot of his bed. He thought it would be easy to ignore how happy she was when he got her a new dress with the flower prints she so adored, or the joy she exuded when he brought her a necklace to replace her lost one, the feeling of the warm hug she gave him in return. And yet all they did was tug at his heart even more.

Every instance was merely a build-up to something that was surely going to end in disaster, and he knew it. The only person on his mind as he awoke was her, so he set himself on a mission to find her, if just for a little conversation. 

The steady, rhythmic pitter-patter of the raindrops lightly hitting his canopy and the ground was calming. He took a deep breath of that notable water-and-earth scent and closed his eyes as he stretched, and rose, taking the time to roll up his sleeves before he grabbed his simple black hat, running his fingers over the bullet hole at the top before gently placing it over his sandy brown hair. 

It took very little time to find her. She stood a ways away from the cliff on the far side of camp, staring at the open air before her, her eyes trained on the colours in the sky. She swirled the dark coffee in her cup around before taking a sip, smiling brightly when she saw Arthur approach. 

"Look at that!" Tilly motioned toward the double rainbow in the sky with the hand she held her cup with, quickly turning back to the scene, awe thick in her voice as she spoke. She hugged her left arm to her stomach. "Ain't it beautiful, Arthur?" 

"Sure, I guess," he gave a slight chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "...if ya like that sort of thing." 

"It's a _rainbow_ , Arthur," she murmured, still in wonder. "Everyone likes rainbows. Don't you?" 

Another chuckle. "Sure." 

"I ain't never seen any this early in the mornin'. It's a nice thing to wake up to, ain't it?" Her feet took her to the edge and she plopped down, folding her legs to her right side. Arthur took his place beside her, dangling his own legs over the edge, feeling the expanse of open air underneath him. Staring at his boots, he kicked his feet for a few moments on impulse, and he almost felt like he was at the end of the world, life rewinding back to when he was but a boy. She saw him, and laughed sweetly, unfolding her legs to do much the same with her bare feet. 

"Yeah." 

They quickly fell into a peaceful silence, and heard only the distant, private discussions of everyone else at camp as they stirred awake, and the birds as they sang their cacophony of music. Arthur took a deep breath to smell the calm of rain and earth colliding and permeating the air, and pulled his hat up higher to get a better view at all the colours in full display. It was pretty, he had to admit. He didn't share the same level of curiosity that Tilly did; maybe it was because he had seen his fair share of rainbows, but it was still pretty nonetheless. 

But his gaze shifted to her, drinking in her sight. Looking at her now, though, eyeing her gentle smile at something so small, not caring at all about the rain wetting her clothes and hair, or the occasional kiss of those drops that graced her cheeks...made something inside of him stir. Before long, he found himself admiring her far longer than he had the rainbows. 

He couldn't ignore the feeling any longer. He couldn't ignore way his heart pounded a little quicker when his eyes fell on her. He allowed his mind to delve into a whirlwind of crazy thoughts - wanting his hands to pluck the brooch that held her braids together, unravel them and sink his fingertips into her hair and kiss her in the blessed rain. Wanting to lay her down in the wet and dewy grass and hear her sweet laughter ring in his ear, her eyes shut tight as the sun peeked through the clouds and doted on her. Wanting her to stare at him so he could watch the warmth in the depths of her pretty brown eyes. Wanting to... 

He wanted to give her more. He knew she deserved more, deserved better than... _this_. But how could he do that when all he had to give was himself? _Even that ain't worth a damn._

_Shit_. He steeled himself, waiting for his mind to calm. _Stop it._

This wasn't supposed to be happening. 

He tried to convince himself that he had already had Mary, but he knew deep down that he was just lying. Why did he have such a terrible habit of loving people he didn't deserve? 

_Ain't nothing ever fair, is it?_

Perhaps feeling his eyes on her, she twisted her body to partially eye him. Concern faded her smile. "You alright, Arthur?" 

He blinked. "Yeah," he nodded. He cleared his throat and scratched his palm against his fresh stubble, looking down at his boots. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Arthur leaned closer to her as he turned back to the sky, voice low. Trying to focus on something else and failing. "Hey, who knows? Maybe there's a pot of gold at the end of one of 'em." 

She snorted. "Or the Blackwater money." 

"Ain't we all wishin'." 

Another pause of silence. The birds seemed louder than before as they flew overhead, and the sun seemed a little brighter. Slowly, he stood up, looking down at the trees and the peaceful rush of river below. 

"I should go..." Arthur trailed off, but he didn't budge from his place. He didn't want to move. It was a nice moment, this, but reality always had a way of ruining everything good and tranquil. Someone was calling for him. He didn't care to think about who the voice belonged to, didn't bother to put a face to the sound, but he knew he heard his name from somewhere. 

"Anyways, I won't disturb you, Miss Tilly." 

Her brown eyes slowly met his, and his stare fell to her lips, his mind holding on to every enunciation of every syllable. _How deep are you willing to fall, Morgan?_

"Stay safe, Arthur." _Too deep._

His eyes trailed back to hers, giving her a quick smile and a tip of his father's hat. 

"I shall try." 

**Author's Note:**

> I hadn't published anything in about four years now, so I'm really rusty to the whole thing again, so I apologise. I wanted to try my hand at a new pairing and another fandom; I hoped this turned out better than I think it did. 
> 
> This is actually supposed to be a set of two chapters, the first from Arthur's point of view, the second from Tilly's. I hadn't started on the second one yet, but I'm hoping to soon. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading.


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